Jury selected in Pa. immigrant death
POTTSVILLE - A jury has been seated in the trial of two northeastern Pennsylvania teenagers charged in the fatal beating of an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
POTTSVILLE - A jury has been seated in the trial of two northeastern Pennsylvania teenagers charged in the fatal beating of an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
Prosecutors say the attack on 25-year-old Luis Ramirez was racially motivated.
A defense attorney denies the beating was a hate crime. He says it was a street fight that ended tragically.
The trial opens Monday with an all-white jury of six men and six women.
Schuylkill County prosecutors have charged 17-year-old Brandon Piekarsky of Shenandoah with third-degree murder.
He and 19-year-old Derrick Donchak, also of Shenandoah, are charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and ethnic intimidation.
Another 17-year-old boy has entered a plea in federal court.
The beating was in July in Shenandoah, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. -AP